Bill > S00350

This bill modifies New York's public health law regarding health care proxy decision-making, specifically expanding the definition of "health care" to explicitly include hydration and nutrition, and removing previous restrictions on an agent's authority to make decisions about artificial nutrition and hydration. The bill allows health care agents to make decisions about life-sustaining treatment, including hydration and nutrition, based on either the principal's known wishes (including religious and moral beliefs) or, if those wishes cannot be reasonably determined, in the principal's best interests. This represents a significant change from previous law, which limited an agent's ability to make decisions about artificial nutrition and hydration when the principal's wishes were unknown. The bill provides more flexibility for agents to make comprehensive medical decisions on behalf of individuals who cannot make those decisions for themselves, while still emphasizing the importance of following the principal's known preferences. The changes will apply to both existing and future health care proxies, and the bill will take effect 90 days after becoming law.

Health and Social Services

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S350